Four protesters were charged with trespass for the occupation of an offshore oil platform. The protesters pled guilty prior to hearing. The protesters argued that the action was peaceful, and genuinely motivated by a belief, founded on a basis of scientific consensus, as to the nature and effects of climate change, and therefore necessary to respond to the threat of harm. 

On November 13, 2020, the judge gave the sentencing. The judge accepted that anthropogenic climate change and its effects are undeniable, and that there is a right to freedom of expression. The judge accepted that without activism, change may be too late. However, she said, activism does not necessarily mean civil disobedience, and peaceful civil disobedience cannot be condoned where it infringes the genuine existing rights of another. In this case, there was an obligation not to interfere with a corporation carrying out its rights, where current New Zealand laws permit exploration and extraction of fossil fuels. The protesters should have sought law reform, and to educate the public without breaching the law. Nonetheless, the protesters' genuine belief in the correctness of their course, their early guilty pleas, and their otherwise good character were considered to be personal mitigating features. Aggravating features were the duration of the offending and the financial loss to the complainant. The protesters were convicted and discharged without penalty. The judge ordered forfeiture of the steel tubes used in the action, but not of the climbing equipment belonging to one of the protesters, because it was essential to his only means of income.

Police v Hanafin

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Police v Hanafin - judgment

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

Police v Hanafin - judgment

Impacted group

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Finance